https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-367-The-World-Tree-and-the-Shadow-Pokemon/12537529/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-369-Eevee-s-Evolution-Goals-Snorlax-s-Special-Energy-Blocks-are-Born-/12537531/
Chapter 368: Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!
Chapter 368: Eevee, Eevee, Eevee!
With the World Tree issue resolved, Naoki heaved a sigh of relief.
From now on, he just needed to let the World Tree grow slowly in the Inverted World.
As for the matter of altering the world's rules and being noticed by Arceus, which Giratina had mentioned...
Naoki felt that Arceus, as the God of Creation, wouldn't be so petty. Moreover, the World Tree was beneficial to this world and caused no harm, so there was no need to worry.
Without the World Tree, fewer and fewer trainers visited the ranch, and Naoki's life returned to its usual pace.
However, development on the ranch had to continue.
One morning, after finishing his daily chores, Naoki set out for the ranch store in town to purchase a batch of Wooloo for production.
Upon arriving, he was surprised to find only Meloette at the store.
"Where's your grandfather?" he asked casually.
"My grandfather went to the Kalos region for a funeral," Meloette replied. "A friend of his passed away recently, so I'm minding the store in his absence."
"I see..." Naoki nodded, not saying more on the matter.
"So, Mr. Naoki, what Pokemon are you looking for today? I can help you find something suitable for your ranch," Meloette offered with a smile.
"Do you have any Wooloo?" Naoki asked.
"Yes, we do!" Meloette nodded and opened the back door. "Please follow me."
The back door led to a spacious ranch where numerous production Pokemon resided.
Naoki had been there a few times before and remembered the layout.
Combees buzzing in the trees, Miltanks grazing in the fields, Roggenrolas dwelling in caves, and Bounsweets hiding in the grass.
Along the way, Naoki spotted not only production Pokemon but also several wild Pokemon that couldn't be bred.
For example, the Fighting-type Mankey, the Rock-type Bonsly, and the flower-holding Oddish, among others.
This came as a surprise to Naoki.
"What are these Pokemon?" he inquired.
Meloette turned to glance at them and explained softly, "Those are Pokemon that my grandfather rescued from the wild. Do you remember the fire that occurred in the mountains last year, Mr. Naoki?"
Naoki's eyes widened in realization.
"Of course, many people from town helped out," Meloette continued. "My grandfather, and I went as well, and we rescued quite a few Pokemon. He intended to release them back into the wild once they recovered, but these Pokemon seem to have grown curious about the human world."
"So, my grandfather decided to keep them for the time being and see if he could help them find trainers or send them to farms as assistants."
"I see!" Naoki exclaimed.
He was well aware of the nature of this ranch store.
Unlike Pokemon hunters or black-market dealers, the prices here were reasonable, and the sales were more like adoptions, with buyers paying a small fee for the Pokemon's upkeep.
"Would you like to take a look at these Pokemon, Mr. Naoki?" Meloette asked.
Naoki paused, his gaze fixed on the group of Pokemon.
Meloette waved cheerfully, and the Pokemon, who had been lounging on the grass, scampered over.
There was Mankey, Bonsly, Oddish, Bellsprout, Ledyba, and Eevee...
Naoki's attention was drawn to the fluffy Eevee.
Sensing his gaze, the Eevee looked up and happily greeted him.
"Ve~!"
"What an outgoing Eevee," Naoki thought to himself, its personality contrasting sharply with his own Ice-type Eevee at home.
Meloette walked up to the group of Pokemon and began introducing them one by one.
"This is Mankey. It's very strong and can help with heavy lifting."
Mankey flexed its arms, showing off its muscles to emphasize its strength.
Meloette moved on to the next Pokemon.
"And this is Bonsly... Now, while it can't help with moving things like Mankey, it can make a lovely ornamental plant for your ranch! Oh, but it's terrified of water and will hide whenever it gets wet."
Bonsly froze in place, resembling an actual tree more than ever.
Ornamental plant... Naoki was at a loss for words, but he recalled that Bonsly did have its fans.
There were even dedicated magazines for Bonsly enthusiasts, who were particular about the length and angle of its arms.
Allegedly, for these enthusiasts, the greener the better.
"Over here, we have Oddish," Meloette said, stroking Oddish's tiny head affectionately. "Don't be fooled by its size; it's incredibly skilled at tending to flowers."
Naoki's thoughts immediately went to AZ's unique Eternal Flower Oddish.
It was a terrifyingly powerful Oddish, the only one of its kind in the world, with no known method of obtaining it, not even in the games.
Naoki was intrigued, but then he remembered Gloom's unique trait and decided against it.
The secretions of a Gloom were notoriously foul-smelling, capable of reaching up to two kilometers away and causing people to faint.
"Here we have a Lombre, a Water-type Pokemon that's excellent at using Water Gun for irrigation. However, this Pokemon has already been reserved by another farmer, so we can't give it to you," Meloette said apologetically.
Naoki waved her concern away. "It's alright. I have Pokemon at my ranch that are specialized for watering."
He was referring to his own Dragonite.
"So, that just leaves the last one!" Meloette crouched down and patted the Eevee's head affectionately. "This little one also came from the mountains. It has a lively and cheerful personality and is very easy to get along with!"
"I can see that," Naoki said as he also crouched down, greeting the Eevee while observing it up close.
In the real world, Eevee resembled a fox.
Its body was mostly covered in brown fur, with a creamy-colored ruff around its neck and a fluffy tail tip. It had four furry legs, each with three toes and pink paw pads. Its long ears were rabbit-like, and its brown eyes were full of life, complemented by a tiny black nose.
"Ve~!"
At that moment, the Eevee was sitting on the grass, gently swaying its fluffy tail and tilting its head curiously. Its big eyes shone with innocence.
"Boom!"
Naoki felt as if Cupid's arrow had struck his heart, making it pound with excitement.
This Eevee, he had to have it!
Meloette could tell what he was thinking and smiled. "It seems like Mr. Naoki also has a soft spot for Eevee."
"Hello, Eevee. My name is Naoki. It's nice to meet you," Naoki said, initiating a greeting with the Eevee.
Eevee: (˙▽˙)
Meloette lowered her head and asked, "Eevee, Mr. Naoki is a kind person. Would you like to go with him to his ranch?"
Eevee nodded enthusiastically and replied, "Ve~!"
"It seems like Eevee likes you too!" Meloette's face lit up with a smile. "Then, Mr. Naoki, please take good care of this Eevee from now on."
"Yes!" Naoki nodded firmly.
He crouched down and patted his shoulder, inviting the Eevee, "Come, hop on over here!"
The tiny Eevee looked at the spot, then happily jumped onto Naoki's shoulder, just like Ash Ketchum's Pikachu.
"Be a good boy. I still have one more thing to do, and then we'll head back to the ranch together," Naoki said, turning his head.
The feeling of the Eevee's soft fur brushing against his neck brought a smile to his face.
The Eevee obediently stood on Naoki's shoulder, accompanying him to the Wooloo habitat.
In an enclosed pasture, a large group of Wooloo were leisurely basking in the sun.
Wooloo had black bodies covered in white wool, resembling round, fluffy white balls. They were adorable in appearance.
"Mr. Naoki, how many Wooloo are you planning to purchase?" Meloette asked.
Naoki thought for a moment and replied, "Eight, I think."
Any more than that, and the designated area in his ranch would become too crowded.
"Alright." Meloette walked forward and opened the gate of the enclosure, inviting Naoki inside to select his eight Wooloo.
The domesticated Wooloo were very docile due to human care and breeding. They were accustomed to human presence, so they didn't panic at the sight of Naoki, a stranger to them.
Naoki looked at the seemingly copy-pasted Wooloo and felt that each one looked identical.
He decided not to be picky and simply chose the first eight in front of him.
Anyway, once they were at his ranch, he would raise them to be healthy and chubby, so it didn't matter if they were skinny now.
Meloette nodded and summoned the eight Wooloo. "Do you need help delivering them to your ranch?"
Naoki shook his head with a smile. "No need. I drove here."
"Okay." Meloette nodded and led the eight Wooloo out of the store. She set up a wooden board connecting the ground to the truck bed.
The Wooloo then walked up the board and filled the truck bed.
The eight Wooloo crowded the truck, making it quite packed.
Naoki paid for his purchases.
Before leaving, Meloette asked, "By the way, Mr. Naoki, do you know how to care for Wooloo?"
Naoki replied, "Feed them grass and berries, and let them graze in the sunshine, right?"
"But be careful, because if their wool gets too long, they won't be able to move. So, Mr. Naoki, you'll need to keep an eye on their wool growth and cut it when it gets too long."
Naoki was already aware of this and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."
Zack also collected wool from the Wooloo. The wool was a high-quality material, and the clothing and carpets made from it were sturdy and popular everywhere.
After bidding Meloette farewell, Naoki drove the truck full of Wooloo back to the ranch.
This time, Gurdurr and Throh didn't follow.
Gurdurr was teaching Throh some moves.
Naoki had been surprised when he first saw this, but he soon felt happy for the friendship between these two Pokemon.
Gurdurr must have been moved by Throh's perseverance and decided to teach it some moves!
Well, if that was the case, he couldn't lag behind.
Naoki glanced at the Eevee sitting in the passenger seat, securely buckled up.
What should this Eevee evolve into? There was already an Eevee at home, so a Glaceon was out of the question.
Then...
Flareon? Vaporeon? Jolteon? Or perhaps Leafeon?
He could directly evolve this Eevee into any of these forms, thanks to the collection of evolution stones that Axew had gathered.
Fire Stone, Water Stone, Thunder Stone, and Leaf Stone.
Aside from these four evolution forms, there were also Espeon, Umbreon, and Sylveon.
With so many options, Naoki couldn't make up his mind.
He looked at the Eevee and noticed the heart-shaped pattern on its tail.
This meant that the Eevee was female, as male Eevees had a jagged pattern on their tails.
"It's a shame it's not male," Naoki thought with a hint of regret.
If it were male, perhaps it could have fallen in love with the Glaceon and produced a bunch of Eevee eggs.
Just like the hardworking Druddigon.
Due to Eevee's unbalanced and unstable genes, wild Eevees were extremely rare.
Naoki intended to build an Eevee army, collecting Eevees of all attributes, and two Eevees were simply not enough.
"Oh well, I'll just spend some time with this Eevee first and see how it goes!" Naoki decided to respect the Eevee's choice and wait to see what it wanted to evolve into.
The Pikachu-truck drove into the ranch, and Naoki honked the horn twice to signal the Pokemon to clear the way. He then drove straight to the plot of land across the river.
Naoki had already constructed a fence for the Wooloo ranch, enclosing the small hill within. Now, he just needed to release the Wooloo into the fenced area.
And the reason for the fence...
Was that Wooloo could use 'Rollout' to crash into the fence, and it would be troublesome if they escaped.
Just like the Wooloo in the beginning of the Sword and Shield games that rolled into the Slumbering Weald.
Directly across from the Wooloo ranch was the apple orchard, but the apple trees were still young.
Naoki wasn't in a hurry, so he didn't ask Tsareena to ripen the apples prematurely.
After all, the important part was the process of planting and growing the trees with the Pokemon, not the fruit they bore.
Besides, the ranch wasn't lacking funds anymore.
After settling the Wooloo, Naoki returned to the other side of the river with the Eevee.
He found Vanilluxe, Glaceon, and the others and smiled as he introduced the new member:
"This Pokemon is Eevee, and from today onwards, it will be living with us on the ranch too!"
Vanilluxe, Trevenant, and Mudsdale immediately welcomed the new addition warmly.
The Eevee seemed delighted by everyone's reaction, as it had a naturally cheerful and lively personality.
Before long, it was playing happily with the similarly upbeat Vanilluxe and Trevenant.
Naoki smiled as he watched them, "Get along well, everyone!"
Not far away, Glaceon watched the new Eevee, who had quickly become friendly with everyone, and felt a strange sensation that it couldn't quite describe.
More importantly, it had taken the initiative to be affectionate with Naoki and even asked him for a hug!
Glaceon had never done anything like that before!
Would Naoki like this Eevee more than it? A terrifying thought popped into Glaceon's mind.
Not far away, Gurdurr, who was sunbathing on the grass, sighed helplessly as it witnessed the scene.
"Ah gah sigh..."
Finally, another Pokemon understood how it had felt.
Glaceon: Fox spirit!
(End of Chapter)
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